


Burning Glances, Turning Heads

by oboe_she_didnt



Series: Grinning Yellows, Spinning Reds [1]
Category: Anne with an E (TV)
Genre: Anne wears pink flowers, Cole and Roy is a thing, Cole is sneaky, F/M, but it's a masquerade, summer soiree shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25361449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oboe_she_didnt/pseuds/oboe_she_didnt
Summary: It’s the bleak midwinter of 1900 and Anne is excited to be attending Aunt Jo’s Summer Soiree for the first time as a grownup! Logistically speaking, it would be rather impossible for her favorite curly-haired man to be in attendance – school is important, and the trip is long, and she just saw him a few weeks ago. But that doesn’t keep her from imagining she sees him in the crowd.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Series: Grinning Yellows, Spinning Reds [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1836607
Comments: 2
Kudos: 114





	Burning Glances, Turning Heads

Anne had always prided herself in her imagination, her tendency to find places to escape into when her current situation was just too painful to confront, and the way she could romanticize just about anything with the right turn of phrase.

Yet ever since starting at Queen's College, Anne discovered she was now getting more visits from the rational side of her mind: the part of her mind that pushed her to the Blythe/LaCroix back door one more time for facts even if they would hurt and the part which was unsurprisingly absent when she wrote her What is Fair editorial (as well as the infamous Slate Incident). This was the part of her mind she had to use in class as she formed arguments and counterarguments against the more close-minded of her professors and peers. It also was the part she had to use quite often whenever the thoughts of disappointment concerning the current location of her beau threatened to send her into a melancholic spiral.

That didn't necessarily mean she abandoned her passionate emotions. Sometimes she just had to choose when she let them out.

For example, she was currently sitting in a comfortable chair in one of the guest rooms at Aunt Jo's mansion, staring out the window at the small trickling colorful cast of characters making their way up the front walk to the front doors where Rollings was undoubtedly greeting them and taking their coats in his usual unflappable manner. But instead of giggling with Diana and Cole, relishing in someone else arranging her hair and picking out the perfect flower crown to complement her dark green dress, she was fighting back tears.

It was the annual Summer Soiree and Anne wished more than anything Gilbert could attend that evening.

But, as she had told herself over and over, that was just impossible, unfair to him, and overall unreasonable. They had seen each other last only just over a month ago, and would have to make it until June without seeing each other again. She couldn't ask him to give up a day or two of classes to accommodate his travel time. And most of all, she knew this would not be the first or last time she would be escortless to an event over the course of their college careers. She didn't even tell him the date until her most recent letter, giving him little time to concoct a harebrained scheme to somehow get himself from Toronto to Charlottetown. As much as she knew Gilbert would likely love to have her out to Toronto for a function, she knew he would never dare to ask her to give up class time for him. She had to do the same for him. They were an equal team, after all, and one day they wouldn't ever have to go to any party alone again.

When she particularly missed him, Anne would take the time to invite the imaginative part of her mind to take over for a few moments and provide her with a novel-worthy vision of Gilbert riding up to the mansion in his best suit (or even just his farm clothes) ready to sweep her off her feet. First they would embrace tightly, but then slowly pull back, still holding hands, before he would lean in and…

"Knock knock! Ready to pick out a mask?"

Anne whipped around, startled out of her daydreaming by one Cole Mackenzie. He was leaning casually against the door frame, already dressed in a dark purple suit. In his hands was a pile of masks.

When she was not wrapped up in her Gilbert-missing, she had been looking forward to this particular Soiree for months, ever since Cole had given her not just the date but the special theme and twist this year's would have. One idea Aunt Jo's Gertrude had had years before but had never gotten around to incorporating was a summer Soiree which was also a masquerade. While it would not be as romantic as in stories since most people there knew everyone else, Anne was thrilled to finally take part in such an event. This was added to the fact she was now wearing grown-up clothes with a grown-up hair style; she now positively blended in in a good way. No longer did she feel out of place from the mere fact she was a child in a sea of sophisticated adults! Even though the previous year's Soiree had been enjoyable, and few things would top the thrill of the original, she knew whatever happened tonight would be tucked away as a special memory.

"Can you lay them on the bed please?" Anne asked.

"I can," Cole replied and did so. "Say, you weren't moping about a certain curly-haired Toronto doctor-in-training, were you?"

"And if I was, I would be well within my rights to do that. Better to do this now then spend the entire evening wishing for something but could not possibly happen."

"Using the good old college logic I see!"

"What can I say, my classes are rubbing off on me!"

"So get out of that chair and come take a look! I know your dress is green, so I was thinking a silver mask?"

Anne walked over to the bed, gently rubbing her fingers over each of the masks carefully laid out. Some had more detailing than others, little beads and embroidery, while others were much more plain, simply a coat of paint decorating the thin mask.

"I do quite like this one!" Anne picked up a mask that was indeed silver with only a few beads around the eye holes and thin silver braiding around the outside. "Now I need to make sure I find a good flower wreath to match all of this as well!"

"Trust me and my artistic eye. I shall not steer you wrong, I promise," Cole said with a wink. "I have one saved for you in the dining room. Now, miss, I do believe it is time for you to get dressed for the ball!"

"Oh, dear, I was watching all the guests arrive and I forgot that means the party will be starting soon!"

"How deep into your gloom were you?"

"Not a word, Cole Mackenzie! How would you feel if your beloved was a thousand miles away, every day, and especially on days when you want him near?"

She didn't expect to get much of a reaction from him - if anything, he would continue to tease her some - but instead he started picking up the masks, leaving her selection behind. And she could have sworn she saw a blush on his cheeks. Before she could comment, he was halfway out the door.

“I’m sending Diana to help you dress! Don’t dally; Jo will be wondering where we are!” he threw behind him as Anne set her mask on the small vanity and pulled her dress out of the wardrobe.

“Diana will what? Anne! You aren’t even dressed yet!” Diana poked her head out of her room, next to Anne’s, pulled out of her own preparations by the sound of her name. She was already dressed in a beautiful white gown, a dark blue mask in her hand.

“If you would be so kind as to shut the door behind you, dearest Diana. I shall require a little help with my hair.”

Diana did as she was told, gently closing the door as Anne stripped down to her corset and underclothes, stepping into the green dress. She switched her shoes to her fancier heeled boots, already polished and ready to be danced in. Diana picked up her brush and started going through her hair, which had spent most of the day in a somewhat messy single braid, as Anne began to gather hairpins scattered around the vanity. She also pulled out of their box a set of pins with small pearls, a Christmas gift from Marilla she had been saving for a special occasion such as this. Once her red hair was untangled and ready to be styled, the two girls fell into their familiar routine of Anne handing pins to Diana as Diana put her hair in place.

When Diana declared her hair finished, Anne picked up her silver mask for Diana to tie behind her head. Anne then did the same for Diana and the pair spent a moment admiring their reflections in the mirror, Anne’s imaginative side seeing Princess Cordelia and her bosom friend off to the ball!

“Cole said he has wreaths waiting for us in the dining room,” Anne said, gingerly touching the edges of her mask, still in awe of how magical they looked.

“Are you ready to go down?” Diana asked, the real reason behind the question going unspoken, but Anne understood. Diana, bless her, had walked in on Anne in the depths of her gloom many a time during the fall semester and had been there to pick her up, remind her of the letters she had stacked under her pillow, and tell her how many more days until Christmas.

Anne turned to Diana with a bright smile on her face. “Yes! Oh, how I wish my younger self could see me now! I feel absolutely magical and you, my dear, look positively like a fairy!”

Diana squeezed her hand. “Then let’s!”

Still holding hands, the girls made their way down the stairs and into the dining room where Cole, already masked, was waiting with the wreaths. But what stopped Anne and Diana in their tracks was the young man, also with a mask, standing rather closely next to Cole.

“Hello,” Diana said, ever the polite gentlewoman.

“Ah! Good! Diana, I made this one for you.” Cole picked up a wreath with large white roses interspersed with smaller blue flowers.

“Thank you!” she exclaimed, setting it atop her head, Anne straightening it.

“And this is for you, Queen Anne,” Cole added, handing her a similar white rose wreath, but this one with pink flowers.

“Pink!” Anne said softly, running her fingers over the soft petals.

“I thought it was pale enough not to clash with your hair, and pink and green do complement each other well,” Cole said proudly.

“What do you think, Diana?” Anne asked, placing the wreath on her head.

“Absolutely beautiful. You picked well, Cole.”

“Yes, thank you Cole!”

Cole then picked up a wreath of yellow roses and held it up to his friend. Anne and Diana watched expectantly as the man bowed his head to Cole so he could place it on his dark hair. He then stood up tall, even taller than Cole, and flashed a wide smile at the girls.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” he asked.

“I was going to!” Cole said, busying himself with getting a purple and green wreath on his head. The other three watched while he seemed to spend more time than necessary getting the wreath to sit just right on his blond hair. “Alright, alright! Anne, Diana, this is my friend Royal Gardner. Roy, you’ve heard all about Anne Shirley-Cuthbert and Diana Barry.” He gestured to each girl as he introduced them.

“Your _friend_?” Diana asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Yes, Cole, your _friend_?” Roy asked, an amused look on his face.

Cole took a deep breath and took Roy’s hand in his. “My beau,” he confirmed.

“I am so, so pleased to meet you, Roy!” Anne said excitedly.

“And I you, Anne! Cole has told me many stories of his mischievous red-haired writer friend! And of course his beautiful musician friend as well!”

“How come we’ve never seen Roy around for our Sunday teas, Cole?” Diana asked.

“I wanted to keep him to myself for a while,” Cole said and shrugged. “But I invited him to this and knew we’d have to combine our two worlds eventually.”

“Are you a good dancer, Roy?” Anne asked.

“I believe I am.”

“Wonderful! Now I’ll have three dancing partners tonight!” Anne said. “Shall we make our entrance?”

“Yes, I think Jo will hunt us down if we hide in here for too much longer,” Cole said, seemingly already much lighter. Still holding onto Roy’s hand, they led Anne and Diana into the ballroom, every available surface covered with the most splendid array of flowers, filling the air with an interesting perfume as the different scents clashed and floated through the air as people moved around.

Anne took a moment to stand in the middle of the room and take in everything around her. She brushed hands with and gave hugs and air kisses to people who were somewhat familiar after two years of attending the Soirees, a little harder to identify with their masks. Some people were in the same costumes they wore each year, others were in their finest party wear. The addition of the masks lent an extra layer of creativity. Much more intricate than hers, some covered their whole faces. Some were decorated on the edges with feathers. There was someone with the full face of a clown, a queen with rouged cheeks, a majestic owl complete with a beak on the mask, one person entirely covered in green except for a rose-edged mask and red flower crown. She felt like she could spend the entire evening going around and examining each costume and outfit carefully, and an entire week on top of that asking about the stories behind them as well, for she was extremely interested in their origins. She knew her dress was green because it was her favorite color and she loved nature, and had trusted Cole to figure the rest because he had more of an eye for color. But what about every other person? Did they too wish they could be a flower and is that why they dressed up as one? Is a clown a reflection of their true self they couldn’t show anywhere else but at a party like this?

“There you are, Anne dear!” Aunt Jo found her and gave her a tight hug, straightening her mask when she stepped back. Aunt Jo’s ensemble was all a deep purple, from her skirt to her mask, all trimmed in gold.

“Aunt Jo, you look positively royal tonight!”

"And you are quite the princess yourself, Anne dear," Aunt Jo replied, gently chucking Anne on the chin. "Very grown-up too, I might add."

"Thank you! It's quite a splendid party as well. It seems every year you find new ways to make it even more exciting than the year before."

"I must credit my dear Gertrude for the masquerade idea, but I do think it is going well if I do say so myself. It might be hard to name the face behind the mask, but that may be half the fun."

"I'll never be anonymous with my hair!" Anne said with a laugh. "But that might be a good thing."

"I must continue to play hostess, but you go off and find your friends. Dance! Enjoy yourself! Has Cole introduced you to his Roy yet?"

"Oh yes! He is absolutely charming."

"Do tease him about it. Heaven knows I had to listen to him go on and on about you and Gilbert for months!"

"I had to hear it too," Anne said, feeling a pang in her heart at the memory of the light-hearted teasing she once endured, now replaced with an ever-growing collection of special moments between Gilbert and herself.

"Then you should know how to give it right back to him. Go have some frivolous fun! I'll call you when it's time for your reading."

Anne scanned the room, grown even fuller in the few minutes she spent talking. More costumes and colors, masks of familiar and unfamiliar people swirling around her, crowded her vision as she struggled to pinpoint the trio she arrived with. They were hovering by one of the food tables and seemed to be having a jolly time while waiting for her.

"What a night!" Cole said once she arrived, daintily lifting up a chocolate-covered strawberry and dipping it into his mouth without getting chocolate on his face.

"What a crowd!" Roy responded, taking a sip from his champagne glass. "If I weren't so eager to dance, I believe I could spend the entire night just looking at all the costumes."

"Would you perhaps like to dance and admire the costumes from out there?" Diana asked, holding out her hand to him.

"But of course! It is only a lucky bonus I'll have one of the most beautiful women in the room in my arms!" Roy winked and took Diana's hand. Anne and Cole watched as they disappeared into the crowd, and listened for the strains of the dancing music calling more and more people to stop standing and talking and just dance.

"So," Anne said, nudging Cole with her shoulder. "You know Roy has a crush on you, right?"

Cole stared at her for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Did Jo send you over here to tease me?"

"Perhaps she did. But I'm not quite in a teasing mood. I am annoyed with you! You teased me for so long, even when I am in a committed relationship, and now that you finally have someone you hide him so I can't pay you back in a similar way.”

“I didn’t want to flaunt it,” Cole said. “Not because I was ashamed of him or anything, but because I could see how much you were hurting with Gilbert gone.”

Anne felt a rush of warmth for her friend. “Thank you. Truly. You didn’t have to do that.”

Cole shrugged. “I wanted to. I can’t imagine how hard the fall semester must have been for you. At least he was able to come home for Christmas.”

“Yes, that was...quite pleasant,” Anne said, smiling slightly at the memories flashing through her mind: blowing out the candles on the Cuthbert tree, a gift exchange in the Blythe-Lacroix parlor, her nearly knocking him over with the force of her hug at the train station…”Would you care to dance? Keep my mind inside this room and not in Toronto?”

“I would be honor to oblige you,” Cole said, bowing slightly and offering her his hand. She took it, dragging him to where nearly half the room was full of dancing people.

After experiencing the barn dance at the county fair and a single social in the fall semester, Anne had to admit she much enjoyed the freedom the dancing at the Soiree provided. No one glared if you forgot a step. No one batted an eye if two women or two men danced together. There were some set dances, but mainly the goal was to move around and enjoy yourself, not worry about putting your hand in the right place, twirling in the right direction, or appropriately interacting with your partner. The song playing was definitely a waltz, but less of a slow waltz so Anne and Cole began to move around in slightly wild circles, spinning until they made their way to where Diana and Roy were dancing, albeit a little less wild.

They continued dancing for a while, trading partners so they all had a chance to dance with each other. They ate some of the food so artfully set out on long banquet tables, stuffing themselves with the most delicious sweets until they could barely move. Anne recited Darcy’s love confession from _Pride and Prejudice_ , the book she spent much of her fall rereading in her little free time, giving herself a reminder of another romance full of misunderstandings that turned out right in the end. The adrenaline rush of declaiming sent her into the hallway for a breath of cooler air, giving her a chance to remove her mask and fan her flushed cheeks and have a moment of some relative silence away from the inner crowd of the ballroom.

As she made her way back into the ballroom, looking for the distinctively tall Cole as Diana’s height made her quite disappear into the crowd, she thought she saw a familiar head of curly dark hair turned away from her. Knowing her mind was definitely playing tricks on her, because all logic dictated Gilbert was safely in his Toronto boarding house room at the moment, she decided to ignore whoever it was. Her eyes locked on Cole’s a second later and she eagerly made her way back over to them. They congratulated her again on her reading.

“I could really feel the passion behind the words,” Roy said. “You must really love your beau.”

“I do,” Anne said with a fond smile. “I really do.”

“Before anyone else comes and snatches up the most talented woman at this party, will you do me the honor of dancing this next song with me?” Roy offered.

“I would love to!” Anne agreed and they joined the dancers again. It was a much slower dance that lent itself to easy conversation. “Tell me a little more about yourself, Royal Gardner. How did you and Cole meet? What are your dreams?”

“You don’t want to hear this from Cole?”

“Oh, he’ll give me his own version. But since I don’t know you, and you don’t know me, it makes sense that you would tell the truth.”

“Very astute. I go to Queen’s too, actually. But I met Cole in the park one day. He was sketching out one of the trees that was half-covered in orange leaves and he was so concentrated he didn’t even notice I sat next to him, well, further down the bench, but still, I was observing him for quite a long time! Needless to say, when he noticed me sitting he jumped quite a bit and might have ruined his drawing if not for my quick hands catching it. I suppose he felt grateful, and he invited me to tea. And...we kept meeting up.”

“That is so sweet! What do you study at Queen’s?”

“English. I fancy myself a poet from time to time, but in actuality I really just like analyzing texts. Cole thinks it’s pretty funny. I don’t think he has much room to talk though, since he likes to sit and stare at paintings!”

Anne laughed lightly. “And what are you thinking of doing once you graduate?”

“Still deciding.”

“But if you could do anything?”

He pondered for a moment, looking over Anne’s shoulder at, she assumed, Cole. “I know he wants to travel, see the great works of art, everything over in Europe. And between my family and Miss Barry we’d be able to fund it. But that’s a secret, Miss Shirley-Cuthbert, and I pray you’ll keep it to yourself. I want to be able to see his face when I say we’re going to France!”

Roy kept talking, illustrating with words the grand plans he had for surprising Cole, but Anne’s mind went somewhere else. It was just that one word that sent her spiraling out of the opulent ballroom and her gorgeous outfit and back to the last summer, with braids and exams and a torn-up heart. _France_. Too many what-ifs and near-misses could have sent her Gilbert even further away. Though she would like to travel, the thought of going to France did not fill her with the same romantical thrill it used to before the last summer. She would be more content with her native Scotland, perhaps, or Gilbert could show her one of his favorite stops from his time on the _Primrose_. Not that they would have the time to go traveling until he earned his degree, of course, since medical school lasted for so long, but in the meantime it was good to make plans. Going to Toronto to visit him would be a grand adventure as well, one that would be inevitable, possibly that next year! She would have to start saving money for train fare, but she had time. They had no rush; years ahead for these small adventures, and even more when they were both back in Avonlea…

“...all I’m saying is, if he’s happy, I’m happy. And I know we’ve only known each other for a few months but I think we have such a great connection.”

Anne forced herself back into the present. “I am so happy to hear that! Cole is one of my very dearest kindred spirits and I would only share him with someone very worthy. You do appear to be that, Mr. Gardner.”

“I am glad to have the approval of his friends. Diana was a little skeptical at first, but I believe I will win her over by the end of the evening.”

“Shall we switch partners for the next dance so you might continue to speak to Diana?”

“I like the sound of that.” The song ended soon after and that pair went and found the other two who were dancing closer to the edge.

“Oh look at you two, all chummy!” Cole said. “What did he say about me?”

“Everything was told in the strictest confidence,” Anne said. “Wild horses couldn’t drag the words from my tongue!”

“We’ll see about that,” Cole said and without another word pulled Anne back to the dance floor. “We’ll get back to me in a moment,” he continued, “but are you having a good time?”

“Me? Of course! It’s been an amazing evening!” Anne said. “Everything is just so beautiful, and I very much enjoyed meeting Roy, and I thought about Gilbert only a few times.”

“And are you okay?”

“Yes,” Anne said emphatically.

“I can tell you’re…”

“I know, it’s not the greatest. But Roy said something that made me think of last summer and I’m still trying to get out of it. I even thought I saw someone who looked like Gil here tonight. But I know it couldn’t be him and I think my brain was just trying to make me feel better.”

“Uh huh,” Cole said. The dance they were doing was a bit more energetic than the previous one and they paused their conversation to catch their breath. As Anne let go of Cole’s hand and spun away from him, she saw the same man with the curly hair, a black mask covering the top half of his face. As she glanced back at him while going back to face Cole, her eyes were drawn down to the part of his face not covered by a mask...it was quite a splendid chin, very reminiscent of her Gil…

Anne felt as though a bolt of lightning ripped through her chest. “Cole!” she whispered as they grew closer again in the dance.

“Yes, Queen Anne?”

“I think I’m going mad!”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because-” she was cut off as they traded partners for a brief moment before circling back. “I really do think Gilbert is here! Or there is someone who looks an awful lot like him, I just saw him again, though it would be just like my mind to conjure up a perfect apparition exactly when I was least expecting it!”

“Oh, I know you’re not going mad.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because it _is_ Gilbert.” With that, the song finished and Cole dropped into a graceful, flourishing bow. Anne was stunned, too shocked to even move. Cole rolled his eyes and took her by the hand, practically dragging her to the side of the room where Gilbert, the real, actual, doctor-to-be, U of T attendee Gilbert Blythe, stood in his best dark suit. On the lower half of his face, twitching above his splendid chin, was the start of his usual amused smirk, which was quickly fading to a look of utter awe. Anne assumed her face was doing something similar.

“You two have fun,” Cole said, gently pushing Anne towards Gilbert and walking away with a bit of a skip to his step. Anne made a mental note as to ask him why he was so nonchalant about her beau showing up, but the thought was swept aside as soon as Gilbert stepped forward and put his arms around her, careful not to crush her mask into his chest.

“You look like a fairy,” he murmured in her ear. “Absolutely gorgeous.”

“You’re...you’re here,” was all Anne could stammer. “Why... _how_ are you here?”

“Never mind that for now,” Gilbert said, pulling back and taking her hands in his. “Want to go out to the hall, a little quieter for some conversation?”

“I would love that,” Anne smiled and led him out, the sudden contrast in noise made the silence nearly deafening. Bits of petals fallen from the various flower wreaths littered the hall like a piece of multicolored carpeting. “You don’t have a flower crown,” Anne observed with a slight pout.

“I didn’t see one sitting around.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to make you one!” Anne said and led him to the parlor where she knew Aunt Jo was storing some extra flowers. “What color?”

“Why don’t you pick?”

She considered for a moment. “I think white. A nice contrast to all this black. It makes you stand out here, by the way. Everything is so colorful!”

“I noticed.”

Anne got to work weaving together the flowers she selected with a skilled practice from her constant flower crown making in the summers. She could feel Gilbert’s gaze burning on her intently as she worked. It was still silent, as though he was enraptured with how she deftly made a white wreath. She finished and stood up on her toes to put it on his head, nestling it softly on top of his curls.

“Thank you,” he said softly.

“My pleasure,” she replied and settled back on her heels, taking in his face because it was _there_. He was _there_. “Would you like some color?”

“Well, if you’re offering, I’d love a pink flower to match yours,” he said while pointing up at her wreath.

“Help me look!” Anne said and they rifled through all the little vases spread throughout the parlor in search of the pink flowers like the ones in Anne’s wreath.

“Here’s one!” Gilbert said, lifting it up to show her, then sticking it in a buttonhole on his jacket.

“Perfect!” Anne bounded back over. “Now we match!”

Gilbert reached his hand up to stroke the side of her face. “I love that we’re a matching set.”

“I love that we belong to each other.”

Anne wouldn’t have been able to say who made the first move, but with no regard for who (Cole) could walk into the parlor at any second, they took the other’s mask off, set them next to some vases, and began to kiss with all the passion of their first, with all the love and comfort of the subsequent ones, and with the lingering thought in the back of their minds they would have very few opportunities to do so in the near future. She ran her fingers through his hair, mussing it up even more than it was before. Gilbert had to be more careful with her hairstyle and chose to keep his hands on her waist and cheek, holding her with such an assured combination of strength and tenderness it took all her free concentration to keep standing up.

When she needed to catch her breath, she pulled back, trying to form a coherent thought. “But you still haven’t answered. As much as I absolutely love seeing you here now, I very specifically told you not to come. I even waited to tell you about it so you couldn’t scheme your way here and jeopardize your schooling by having to miss for traveling! And yet somehow you made it here.”

“Ah,” Gilbert said, rubbing the side of his neck. “I can assure you I’m not missing any classes. I got here just in time to hear you speak, which was fantastic, by the way. And I’ll have to leave first thing tomorrow morning so I can make it back to Toronto before classes Monday. I brought plenty of things to read and work on on the train. True, I might be a little tired, but it’s worth it. You’re worth it.” He kissed her again, but after only a few seconds Anne pulled back, still annoyed.

“But how did you know about it? You couldn’t have made the decision that quickly after you saw my letter. You would have gotten it only this week!”

“For that, you can blame Cole. He wrote me as soon as I got back after Christmas.”

“You’ve known for _months_!?” Anne didn’t know why she was so annoyed, perhaps because one of her best friends had schemed behind her back, even if it was to give her a lovely surprise. “You are lucky I don’t have my copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ with me right now, Gilbert Blythe, otherwise your head might become a little more acquainted with it!”

He just stood there with a small, fond smile on his face, letting her pace and get her thoughts out, wringing her hands as her mind raced through all the different emotions she was feeling. When she couldn’t summon anything else to say, she turned her head to look at him. He raised his eyebrows, as though asking “Are you done?” without saying a word.

Anne smiled and took his hand again. “I’m sorry. But after being a bit melancholic about you not being here and making up my mind to be happy tonight without you here, it seems like all my hard work earlier was for nothing! You know, I thought I was going mad when I saw you a couple times tonight. There you were, a phantom in the shape of my Gilbert, here to taunt me with that which I couldn’t have.”

Gilbert lifted her hand up to kiss it. “So while a good surprise...I probably should tell Cole ‘no’ next time?”

Anne hummed and thought about it. “I think when I’m through with him, he won’t do something like this again.”

Gilbert started laughing so hard he had to let go of her hand and step back to regain his composure. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, Anne-girl.”

“Shall we go back inside? I know of one dashing young gentleman I very much enjoy dancing with.”

“Ah, you’ll have to introduce me then,” Gilbert winked. They put their masks back on each other, tying them with a kind of quiet domesticity Anne observed was slightly odd with such opulence but also very _right_ because it was them. All ready in their full ball attire, Gilbert offered his hand again. She took it eagerly, squeezing it, and pulled him back to the ballroom.

Cole was there just inside the door to greet them, flanked by Diana and Roy. His arms were crossed. “Well, well, well, where have you two lovebirds been?”

“None of your business, Cole Mackenzie. And I’ll have some words for you tomorrow,” Anne said. “If you’ll excuse me, I must dance with my beau.”

If Gilbert noticed that the pair following them was Cole and Roy, holding hands and swaying to the music much like him and Anne, he didn’t make any comment.

That night really was something Anne had dreamed of as a child, writing her stories about Princess Cordelia and a handsome masked stranger, of the excitement and thrill of a masquerade, of falling in love in such an enchanted setting. But the reality was so much better than anything her imagination could have put together. Her dance partner was not a stranger, but her life partner in every sense of the word. She didn’t need to fall in love under the chandeliers and flowers; she was already in love. While she knew in her heart of hearts this kind of surprise would not be easily repeated over the next few years, she brushed the thought away and moved even closer to Gilbert. They were separated by a thousand miles for months at a time, with a distance shortened somewhat by their letters. But they made it through by cherishing these close moments whenever they could.

**Author's Note:**

> I came up with this idea a while ago while watching Phantom of the Opera and thinking how some of the masquerade dancers looked like they would be right at home at the Summer Soiree. Title is of course taken from the song “Masquerade” from POTO and there are a couple other references to the song inside the story as well!
> 
> I don’t believe I unconsciously stole any elements from any other fics (I stopped reading soiree-related ones recently on purpose) but I apologize if something looks familiar.
> 
> Find me on Twitter: @dianas_piano


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